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JUL 8, 2014 7:35 PM

For those who don't have time to pore through the entire Temasek Review 2014, we've picked out seven charts that best summarise Temasek's performance last year:

1. Portfolio value

Temasek's net portfolio value - the total value of its assets - rose 3.7 per cent from $215 billion last year to a new record of $223 billion as at March 31.

However, $5 billion of this increase was an injection of fresh funds from the Finance Ministry, Temasek's sole shareholder.

2. Total shareholder return

Temasek tracks the returns it has earned for its shareholder over various periods using the total shareholder return measure, which includes dividends paid to the Finance Ministry but not capital injections from the ministry.

Its one-year total shareholder return was 1.5 per cent in Singapore dollar terms as at March 31 - down from 8.9 per cent in the previous year.

The decline was mainly due to weakness in Temasek's key markets in Asia, the company said.

Its 10-year and 20-year total shareholder return also fell as at March 31, to 9 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

3. Hurdle rate

One way to judge Temasek's performance is to measure its total shareholder return against the hurdle rate - a minimum rate of return on its investments - that it has set for itself.

In this regard, Temasek's total shareholder return in Singdollar terms fell short of its 8 per cent hurdle rate last year.

Over a longer period, however, the returns that Temasek has generated since its inception still remain well above its hurdle rate.

4. Other benchmarks

It's important to look at other market benchmarks as well when assessing Temasek's performance. Last year, Temasek outperformed the Singapore equity market, but fared relatively poorly compared to the broader Asian and global markets.

But again, if you look over the longer term - 10 years and beyond - it has still done better than these other benchmarks.

5. Investments and divestments

Last year was one of Temasek's most active years for new investments, the company said.

It invested a total of $24 billion, half of which went to Asia "as lower asset prices offered attractive investment opportunities". Another 40 per cent was invested in Europe and North America.

Over the same period, it sold off $10 billion of assets, ending up with a net investment amount of $14 billion - double the annual average of about $7 billion over the last 10 years.

6. Geographic distribution

As of March 31, about 60 per cent of Temasek's investments were in mature economies, while 40 per cent were in emerging markets.

Three countries accounted for about two-thirds of Temasek's whole portfolio: Singapore (31 per cent), China (25 per cent) and Australia (10 per cent).

The company's exposure to North America and Europe grew slightly, at the expense of its exposure to Australia and New Zealand.

7. Sector distribution

The sector make-up of Temasek's portfolio did not change much last year, except for a slight increase in life sciences, consumer and real estate.

Financial services continued to make up the single largest sector in Temasek's portfolio, at nearly a third, while telecommunications, media and technology came in second at nearly a quarter.

The top three sectors Temasek invested in last year were financial services, life sciences and energy. Towards the end of the year, it also stepped up investments in the consumer sector.